Some advice for starting pirates :)

I have seen lots of topics about Skull Island being too hard. Here are some tips :)

1. Find a group of reliable friends you can trust. If you find friends you can communicate with, you can share ideas about how to win a tough battle. Having good communication is key to completing tough battles.

2. Know how to manage your companions. Before a battle determine the class of enemies and manage your companions before the battle to earn the upper hand. If you have a buccaneer boss and you are using buccaneer companions they will resist and you will have a harder time defeating enemies. Also plan how you use your companion points.

3. Spend gold strategically. You will need gold to buy things later in the game so don't spend gold right when you get it. The items are expensive and as new concepts are introduced you will need to spend gold to decrease the difficulty.

4. Do side quests! Side quests in Skull Island are very important because you can earn items that make questing easier later on such as companions, weapons, and ship parts. Plus you earn gold and extra xp.

5. When you have quests that involve taking down enemy ships do not board them! Take them down without boarding them and you earn the nautical xp that is crucial during the beginning of this game! Also it is good to get in the habit of not boarding because boarding leeches away lots of time you could be spending on the next quest.

I hope these tips helped you and if you have tips you would like to share feel free to by commenting below. Happy pirating!

Other than your Firstmate, how do you manage companions? Can you control which ones you have out during battle?

Other than your first mate -- 100% (always in battle with you if not knocked out) your other companions join based on a percentage rate. If you click "u" it will take you to your companion management page. There you will see each companion and its arrangement. You can change your companion arrangement by clicking and dragging them to the position you want them. (Note: the more companions you have the smaller each successive percentage rate will be.)

those are all really good ideas, i have also found for the pirates a little higher leveled, that getting Bonnie Anne burst fire and double tap really helps to win a battle. Though, thats after her promotion so it might take a little longer.

Also, try to match your playing style with the companions you use;

quick and done: Bonnie Anne ( after promotion ) and Sarah Steeletake longer: Ratbeard and beginning companionlong battle ( lots of xp ): old scratch and any of the others

i tend to use my monkey companions a lot, and have heard good things about the ninja pig too ....

About the companions thing, I think it's better to try and use a wide range of character types and powers. On most of my pirates, Bonie Anne is the first mate, and I use her, Scratch, and Ratbeard on most boss battles. That way, you have a good power set and can adapt to most sudden changes in the fights.

Your points are good except the last one. While its true broadside combat gives nxp, sometimes deckside combat can't be avoided. It's also important to note that for the defeat & collect quests, boarding ships icrease the chance of you getting the said item, so there's that.